Parents Blog

I love "The Amazing Race." Other than Fox Soccer and a few other TV shows, this would have to be my companion on a desert island. So imagine my delight when the show premiered last Sunday and one of the contestants was a familiar face, Ethan Zohn. Some of you may know Ethan from "Survivor" where he was the winner of the third season, Survivor: Africa. I don't watch "Survivor" but I learned of Ethan through his soccer playing and his founding of "Grassroot Soccer." Ethan was a goalkeeper at Vassar and played for the United Soccer League and in Zimbabwe for their Highlanders F.C. He has done soccer commentating and hosting over the years, so you may have seen him on Fox Soccer or MSG.

I think of Ethan often when I see my own sons working on their soccer. While Ethan did live the dream of playing college and professional soccer, it was how he parlayed that interest and success into something more significant. We parents want our children to achieve, but we also want them to develop into adults with integrity and honor. Most kids won't play soccer much beyond their youth experience. Therefore, that time should be spent joyfully benefitting from the important essentials of youth soccer: exercise, learning to work with others, traveling, accepting defeat, winning with humility, and sharing time with family and friends. Additionally soccer can teach tolerance and introduce players to the world. It's these last lessons which Ethan has expanded and built upon. He's the ultimate soccer role model for my children.

From his experiences in Africa, he recognized the horrible toll HIV/AIDS has taken throughout the continent. In an effort to stem the spread of the disease, education was essential. So Ethan used soccer as a tool to bring young people together and then teach them how to prevent infection in their own lives and the lives of their loved ones. Called "Grassroot Soccer," it combines education through their "Skillz" curriculum with developing soccer skills. As their web site (grassrootsoccer.org) explains:

Skillz is a culture, mindset, and toolkit for educators to use when teaching young people 12-18 about HIV and AIDS and life skills. Skillz creates simple but powerful connections between soccer (sport) and life skills.

The program has graduated 340,000 young people and the goal is to graduate one million kids by the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

In April 2009, Ethan was diagnosed with a rare form of Hodgkin's lymphoma and after intensive chemotherapy and additional aggressive treatment, the cancer is now in remission. Building on this personal experience, Ethan added cancer causes to his extensive charity work. His determination to use his "Survivor" prize money to help African children survive and then use his own cancer survival to help others overcome the disease has always been coupled with his love for soccer.

His great example demonstrates that youth soccer can stretch beyond just being a competitive sport and help players participate in the world arena by doing community service. For example, kids could raise money for organizations by running a dribble-thon where teams sign up contributors who pledge an amount for every field length completed by a player. Or they can have a cone contest where teams compete against one another in dribbling a ball through cones in a tag-team manner. Youth soccer can also build character by offering players service opportunities that will hopefully become a part of their life skills. Some clubs have had food drives where players have to donate a can or box of food each time a goal is scored. Other clubs run soccer clinics for kids who don't have the means to participate regularly in soccer and provide each player with a ball.

There are also dozens of soccer-oriented organizations that youth teams can support by donating gently used gear. U.S. Soccer Foundation's "Pass Back" program usually has donation centers at local soccer stores and at state association offices. "Peace Passers" asks you to contact their web site and they will tell you how to get the gear to them. "Operation Give" collects gear that U.S. military troops distribute in Iraq. Fedex provides free shipping to their warehouse (address on the website) so there is no cost to your team to ship the items.

Augmenting the sports aspect of youth soccer with community service and charitable work promises a richer development of our children's character. The amazing part is that you can add these with little extra effort and tons of rewards. While Ethan Zohn is a survivor on several levels, I suspect that's not proactive enough for the life he's created. Surviving wasn't a terminus; it was a point from which to launch even more success. Likewise soccer shouldn't be a terminus experience. We want our kids to celebrate, grow, and build good memories. As a global sport, soccer should give youth players a sense of being part of the global community. That means stretching beyond drills and games to embrace the experiences of other cultures both abroad and in our own cities. Connecting through service can lead to even greater relationships. As Ethan states in the introduction to his series of youth soccer books, Soccer World, "Soccer is played in almost every nation, so this game is like a common language that brings people together. I can just show up at a field with a ball and instantly make 20 cool new friends." Hopefully youth soccer can be the springboard for compassion, altruism, and tolerance in adulthood. Whatever our children aspire to be, they won't all be professional soccer players, but hopefully they will all be good citizens.

Well, I have enjoyed reading the discussion on when the role of a goalkeeper should be introduced in youth soccer. I applaud those involved, as I feel that open debate is a sound educational approach to sharing information.

There are domains of development that all humans go through. Those domains are psychosocial (individual psychology and interaction with others), psychomotor (physical) and cognitive (mental). During childhood, the growth in these three domains are more obvious than at other phases of life. It is important to be aware of these facts since knowing the nature of an age (childhood, puberty, adolescence, etc.) is important-coaches must know whom they are coaching. As a coach better understands these stages of child development, then the how, and when, to apply the four components of the game (technique, fitness, tactics and psychology) become clear.

Knowing the characteristics of the U6 and U8 age groups was the foundation for the decision to hold off on introducing goalkeeping until the U10 age group. Psychosocially the U6 age group is quite egocentric. So, while it looks like they play in a group around the ball, it is in fact simply all of the kids on the field vying for the ball simultaneously. This remains true for the U8 age group, but to a lesser degree. Indeed let's have them all run, dribbling, shooting, passing and receiving the ball. That base of good eye-foot coordination will be invaluable to quality goalkeeping in the future. Consider also the demands of today's game at older age groups, where it is expected that goalkeepers can play with their feet (and sometimes the head too) when dealing with long through balls or back passes.

Cognitively the position of goalkeeper requires a good ability to read the game. That comes into play for positioning, angles and distance from the goalmouth and to the ball. It will also be a factor in helping the positioning of a defensive wall when defending against a free kick or to help teammates with their positioning during the flow of play when the goalkeeper's team is defending. Understanding space (distances and angles) on a soccer field only begins to emerge in the U10 age group. That capability, along with reading the movements of the ball and opponents, is very demanding. For children younger than 10 it is simply information overload.

In the psychomotor domain, aside from the physical power needed to cover the goalmouth (diving), deal with high balls (vertical jump) and the physical contact with the ground and other players, visual tracking acuity is not yet developed to an adult stage until around 10-years-old. Visual tracking acuity impacts one's ability to judge the speed and trajectory of the ball when it's in the air or kicked over long distances. The growth of the optic nerve is a factor in the acquisition of visual tracking acuity. That nerve is still growing for the U6 and U8 age group players. If nature can be patient in their growth then so can we as adults.

Now, lest anyone think that nothing at all is being done that builds a foundation to future goalkeeping with the U6 and U8 age groups do not forget the movement education that US Youth Soccer and U.S. Soccer both advocate for those ages. All of the work on eye-foot and eye-hand coordination helps to build that foundation. Some balance exercises can mimic goalkeeper techniques. Skipping, as another example, leads to proper form for a vertical jump to collect a high ball. The coach who understands the physical and technical demands of goalkeeping can add those base movements into movement education with all of the children in the U6 and U8 age groups.

There are some good reasons why games should be played without goalkeepers until the U-10 level and they're addressed by AYSO's National Coach Instructor John Ouellette and Sam Snow, U.S. Youth Soccer's Coaching Director. Both AYSO and USYS discourage the use of keepers at the U-8 level and below. Snow writes, "The U-8 age group is still in an egocentric phase of psychological development, which tells us that we should allow these children to run and chase the ball, to be in the game –- not waiting at the end of the field for the game to come to them. It is more important at this age that they chase the game. Children this age want to play with the toy (the ball) and they need to go to where the toy is to be fully engaged." Read Snow's article HERE.

Ouellette reiterates that point and also notes that, "In their early experiences with soccer, we want young players to shoot on goal as much as possible because striking the ball is such an important skill for players to master. Young kids are more likely to shoot often when there's no goalkeeper." Read Ouellette's article HERE.

Certainly youth soccer affords great opportunities for our kids to get fit. That fitness extends to mind, body, and spirit. Players exercise by running, leaping, stretching, juggling, dribbling and occasionally sliding. Most soccer practices consist of a warm up, a constantly active training session and a cool down. Soccer coaches will add life lessons about being supportive, sportsmanship and integrity. Most kids will willingly extend their soccer activity past the end of practice or a game because they are so enthusiastic about playing. And the wonderful thing about soccer is that children of any athletic level or fitness condition can enter the sport and improve their skills. Every child can benefit from the fitness that soccer offers.

But what about us parents? How does youth soccer affect our fitness? I can tell you honestly, and I'm sure many of you will agree, that my fitness improved beginning the day my boys started playing soccer. While I don't make a practice of playing the game and although I'm left-footed I have nothing beyond that to offer to soccer, the game has nonetheless made me healthier.

Here's my parent fitness report:

Equipment Aerobics – I have done every kind of crunch, press, and lift while retrieving and servicing soccer equipment. There's the "My Cleat's Untied Squat" that most parents practice at least twice during any practice or game, not to mention at home, leaping out of the car and just before kick-off. The "Soccer Bag Jerk" where you lift bags into and out of the trunk, carry them to and from the field and bend and lift the dirty clothes out of the bag and into the washer. The "I'm Missing a Shin Guard Push-up" where you look under every couch, chair, table, bed and bookcase or commando crawl through a pile at the bottom of a closet.

Tournament Track - The fittest of us owe our muscle tone to field location during a tournament. "Distance Event"– If the parking lot is located by Fields 3 through 5, your child's team is due to play on Field 32. "Relays"– If the finals are set for Field 3, they will be changed to Field 29. This is of course after you have found the perfect parking place steps away from the sideline and you have already set up your chairs. "Sprints"– Port-a-Johns will always be located ten fields from any place your five year old is standing when the urge arrives. "Steeplechase"– No matter what the weather, the trip to your team's fields will travel across a creek without a bridge, a bog or inexplicable mud zones.

Gym Equipment Rotation – Until our kids began playing soccer, few of us realized that our lives revolved around some pretty sophisticated home exercise equipment without ordering a Nordic Track or Bowflex. "The Step Climber" – Before every practice we will make at least four trips up and down the stairs in order to hurry along and change into uniform or find the missing shin guard (see above). "Treadmill" – The continual cycle of running we all do in order to get through the calendar of events. I run in my dreams. "Punching Bag" – We stuff clothes into our washers, force that extra pair of socks into a crammed bag, break through the brambles behind the goal to find that $125 ball we bought earlier in the day and shove five suitcases into a trunk that holds four. While you may not strike an actual blow, you definitely are punching.

Fitness doesn't always come from a membership and gleaming equipment under fluorescent lights. When we're busy, we have to find our health where we can. Even if the above exercise routine can't completely fulfill your daily quota, some of it can be tailored to work to your benefit. Do a few laps around the soccer field before the kick-off, take a bike ride during practices, find a buddy and walk while the kids train or even jog in place while watching a game. Clubs might even be willing to offer a fitness session for parents while the kids practice. Bringing in an instructor and charging a nominal fee could kick off a fitness opportunity to match what the kids are getting. But with or without a club's assistance, parents can use their kids' fitness time as their own. Youth soccer can bring out the best in us all, even if we have to be a bit creative to discover it.

It is not uncommon for coaches to train young players in one component of the game at a time. This is often seen in a separate training on technique which is accomplished through specific drills. With older players, the training of the four individual components of soccer is seen mostly in fitness training. While there is a place for separate fitness training, particularly from 15 years old and older, most training sessions must be economical. Economical training is working on two or more components of the game at a time. For example; in a 4 v 4 training activity, all four components of the game are taking place but the coach might focus the training on just one component. If that component is technique then the benefit of this approach over other drills is having players connect the skill to the tactical moment in the game. If one attends the "D" or "C" license course, then the coaching of technique and tactics are done simultaneously. Yet decades of teaching skills as a standalone component are still being phased out. Many coaches and clubs are in the process of making the change. That leads us to this exchange with a club coach.

I am struggling to defend a principle that you taught us at the"Y" License course this summer. If I recall, you told us that for U10s - in which I include U9s, the pinnacle of coaching is to have players solve problems in 3s and 4s.

Our technical director has set a curriculum that focuses almost exclusively on technique for the U9 travel players and waits to introduce group concepts at U10. I understand his general approach, but feel that the particular group of boys in our U9 group are especially gifted and have already shown themselves to be ready to solve problems in groups rather than an exclusive focus on technique. During the summer I led them through sessions on defensive transition and pressure-cover activities (using age-appropriate activities and small sided games of course) as well as possession passing and support. The results of the summer training are showing in games. Our U9s are using back passes, to the keeper at times, to relieve pressure and redistribute. In our last game I counted fewer than 3 "clearances" since our boys tend to want to hold possession. I noticed good cover and spacing all over the field. The boys don't know they are doing it; they are just doing it and are enjoying being good at this game that they love.

I am fearful that once the season starts, and the Academy training is focused on technique there will be an exclusion of the principals of play and our boys will not continue to push the envelope. I am not saying that technique is not critical to a U9 player, it is important. What I think I am saying is that principals of play can and should be taught along with technique to U9 players if they are capable of getting the concepts.

I think I am correct, but cannot articulate the reasons why. I'd appreciate your perspective and thoughts on this so I can adjust my own opinions. I would like to better understand the pinnacle of coaching that you support and if your opinion can help me influence our Academy training curriculum I would be grateful.

Well, it sounds like you had a productive and fun summer with the players. I am sure you are all looking forward to the fall season. The situation you describe is actually a 'good problem' in that the need to improve the ball skills of the American player is quite real. However teaching ball skills in isolation from the game is a problem. Even young players need to make a connection to why they are practicing the skills. Yes it is fun to learn how to do things with the ball; it is a toy to them after all. But players 8 and older like knowing how skills can help them play the game.

So for the U10 age group, which clearly includes the U9 age group, the ball to player ratios that should occur in training sessions throughout the soccer year are 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3/4. The player combinations could be 1v1 up to 4v4 and then odd number combinations such as 2v3 or 4v2. These variations of player combinations, still having a maximum of four players on the ball, puts the kids into situations they can comprehend – in time. Now they are seeing the game from both an individual and teammate perspective. While working the players up to meaningful play in a small group the need to practice in pairs and individually continues. The skills and principles of play done on their own or with a partner are crucial building blocks to small group play.

For example, they are at an age when they can learn how to do a wall pass. Now working on inside of the foot passing makes better sense to them. Tactically they can see how a teammate can help them in the situation. Coaching technique and tactics (execution of the principles of play) do not have to be done separately.

I recommend that you sit with your Club Director and have the conversation. Yes, you can indeed teach a lot of ball skills in the U10 age group, but don't exclude their practical application in the game.

I suggest that you also involve the Technical Director from your state soccer association as he or she can give you a good deal of support on the plans for player development.

Finally, it must be said that too often coaches try to compartmentalize the process; i.e., learn the technique first, and then play the game, however as Nater and Gallimore (2006) comment on the teachings of the late John Wooden, "… stressing fundamentals is not enough. Coach teaches that the purpose of being fundamentally sound is to provide a foundation on which individual creativity and imagination can flourish. It is a false dichotomy, he insists, to claim that one must either focus on fundamentals or on higher-order learning and understanding. One rests on the other, and both should be properly taught concurrently from the onset".